Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats.
There are 16 countries taking part in the WC 2007. Lets analyze each country.
I would do one the rest is up to you guys!! Multiple analysis on the same teams only will enrich this thread.

India:
Strength:
Batting as a whole. Ganguly's presence has rejuvenated this team. Top order extremely strong. Shewag is coming back to his form. With Tendu in 1st down and Dravid in second they make a formidible top order. Dhoni, Karthik, Yuvraj strengthens the middle order. Pathan, Agarkar, Zaheer, Kumble, Harbajan all can hit out at the slog overs. In any match a total less than a 300 would be a disappointment.
Weakness:
Bowling overall. Pathan can't buy a wicket. Zaheer and Agarkar is as inconsistent as ever. Harbi, Kumble can be economical but that's about it. Patel, Sresanth can't crack the top 11 lineup.
Opportunities:
This is the opportunity that India will have to regain the pride which they had lost against the hands of Brian Lara's team. They were soundly beaten in ODI by a much lesser talented lineup.
Karthik, Yuvraj can become household names like the more known of Ganguly, Shewag, Dhoni, Tendu and Dravid. They have added advantage of being among the best fielders the world has ever seen.
Threats:
Opening pair. With an unsettled opening pair it becomes harder to implement game plan.
Bowlers. Opponent can tear up this attack any time.
Overseas. being away from home they are vulnerable to the nth degree.

layperson

February 22, 2007, 03:09 PM

:confused: OK, so why you did you start your analysis with India? I would have thought you would start it off with your own team ie Bangladesh.

Tigers_eye

February 22, 2007, 03:17 PM

:confused: OK, so why you did you start your analysis with India? I would have thought you would start it off with your own team ie Bangladesh.
Giving others a chance!! But no one grabed the opportunity!! Not even you.

Chance #2.

Sri Lanka:
Strength:
As Ranatunga has mentioned, I'd put my money on them to win it all.
Bowling, batting, slogging, fielding, coaching in all department they are one the best. Jayasuriya can slither any bowling attack he wants and give 10 overs of unorthodox spin.
Vass, miser as he is can blast sixes.
Murali, his eyes is good enough to explain why he is the best of the best.
With Dilshan and arnold in the middle top order can take more risk than ever.
Weakness:
None.
Opportunities:
Make sure they build up for the second round.
Threats:
Getting big headed or overconfident.
Dhoni.
Aftab.

Haha. What are all other teams doing then? Maybe they shouldn't bother to make the trip. :) Joke aside, Srilanka is not as strong as you think they are. Ofcourse, they are one of the favorite to win the world cup but they definately got some weakness. Lets start with their pace bowling attack. Vaas is losing his zips and not quite the same anymore. Malinga is too unpredictable and can be quite erratic at times. We all know how inconsistent and wild Dilhara Fernando can be.

Tigers_eye

February 22, 2007, 03:34 PM

creativity thy name is babubhai.

Tigers_eye

February 22, 2007, 03:38 PM

Haha. What are all other teams doing then? Maybe they shouldn't bother to make the trip. :) Joke aside, Srilanka is not as strong as you think they are. Ofcourse, they are one of the favorite to win the world cup but they definately got some weakness. Lets start with their pace bowling attack. Vaas is losing his zips and not quite the same anymore. Malinga is too unpredictable and can be quite erratic at times. We all know how inconsistent and wild Dilhara Fernando can be.
I think their starting lineup would have Vass, Malinga and 1st change Maharoof. Which is as potent as Pollock, Ntini, nel or Mcgrath, Lee, suckup Watson or Asif, Shoaib, dudh bhat Rana/Gul.

But the real strength lies between Murali, Jaya and Dilshan which can not be matched by SA, Aus, or Pakistan.

sadi

February 22, 2007, 03:41 PM

I think their starting lineup would have Vass, Malinga and 1st change Maharoof. Which is as potent as Pollock, Ntini, nel or Mcgrath, Lee, suckup Watson or Asif, Shoaib, Rana/Gul.

Well I disagree. Pollock, Ntini and Nel are much better bowler qualitywise and only Vaas can come close. Malinga is over-rated and I will be more worried about Mahroof's batting than bowling.

bharat

February 22, 2007, 04:25 PM

I agree with Sadi , SL main weakness is their bowling .Apart from Murali all others arnt too great ..

Vaas --Is not the same bowler anymore, and I predict he would have a hard time.

Malinga - In placid tracks of WI he will not be the same threat as he was in NZ or Eng.He can cause some problems but none too serious .

Fernando/Mahroof ---Are just passable , at their best

All in all , SL's strength is their Batting and Fielding .

As an Indian I am more worried about SA or Aus than SL.Also, except at the '96 WC, SL tends to loose it in WC's .Even in the last WC , though they reached the Semi's they were a shadow of themselves.

Miraz

February 22, 2007, 05:14 PM

Bangladesh Strength

http://aa.1asphost.com/tassy/ashraful_m.jpg

and

Bangladesh Weakness

http://aa.1asphost.com/tassy/ashraful_m.jpg

Murad

February 22, 2007, 05:59 PM

Bangladesh Strength

http://aa.1asphost.com/tassy/ashraful_m.jpg

and

Bangladesh Weakness

http://aa.1asphost.com/tassy/ashraful_m.jpg

i totally agreee with you...

Miraz

February 22, 2007, 07:13 PM

SWOT analysis of Bermuda

World Cup Prospect of Bermuda : India and Sri Lanka will be too good, and on recent performances, Bangladesh - no longer a one-day minnow - are way out of their league as well.

In India's weakness column, you can add the fact that they have always been paper tigers. And add to their strength is the fact that the WI is almost their home ground.

SMHasan

February 22, 2007, 10:06 PM

i totally agreee with you...

Someone said Ash is the weakness and you agreed with him? Remember this fellow can win a big match for you. Yes true that he hasn't been consistant and even I was against to include him in the final match of the CT in India.

But as he is in the team lets hope and pray that he shines. It seems that he became an enemy here in BC. But is it fair? Remember if he shines then we might win a match and might go to the second round.

Beamer

February 22, 2007, 11:11 PM

India seems as though they have figured out their bowling combination. It looks like Zaheer, Agarkar, Kumble for sure and either Sreesanth/Munaf or Harbhajan will fill in the quotas. Zaheer has been taking wkts in his opening spell lately, but he can be erratic if someone takes it to him. Same goes with Agarkar. Its Harbhajan and Kumble that we really need to watch out for in the middle overs. It would be actually criminal not to at least give Ashraful the oppurtunity to come at no.4 to face them. He and only he can, if wants to, negoatiate them properly. By that I mean, ticking the runs by putting balls in the gaps. Sakib might be too inexperienced to handle that tandem properly and might get bogged down causing the latter batsmen to take unnecessary risks. Also, don't forget, India has almost all of their top order batsmen as bowling option. Dada, Shehwag, Yuvraj, Tendulakr- some of them, if not all, might and probaly will combine to pick up the extra overs if they go with an extra batsman. Again, Ashraful must come up the order ( middle overs ) when these parttimers operate. It all depends on him how he wants to pace his innings. If he plays it like it should be in the middle overs, part timers will give you bad balls, and one can put 'em away without betting your house on it.

India's bowling strength is also their weakness. They have almost everybody bowling in one dayers and with considerable success over the years. But, they sometime overbowl their parttimers and our middle order must take advantage of that if that happens. How that can happen ? well, if our top three can give us a flier ( in terms of run rate ..or at least take one of their premier bowler to the cleaners ), it will force them to finish their quotas with some of the many part time bowlers they got.

If we want to win, we have to explore all their weaknesses and plan accordingly. It might fall all flat if we give up too many wkts in the beginning. We need to target Zaheer first. Our two lefty openers would cope with him better than the last time when India toured ( and remember, we should be rooting for Irfan to be in the team- he is there for the taking ). Aftab can handle Agarkar better ( aftab generally likes to hit the rhmb ). But, the key is to collectively manage a good run rate in the initial fifteen without being down three-four wkts. If we can come out of that, likes of Ash, sakib, Bashar can play without pressure in the middle overs. Also, it is vitaly important that one of the top five-six stays a long period so the others can play around them. We are getting one good partnership these days every game ( 90-100 run partnerships ) and one mid level partnership. We need to increase the second partnership to be equally good if we want to post or chase a big score ( 265+ ). Scroing 250 won't cut it against India or Sri Lanka. Also, another problem we have is we lose the two batsmen invloved in any partnership in succession. We need to stop that. It is very hard for two new batsman to come in the 34+ over and expect them to up the tempo right away. What happens next is we start losing wkts in regular interval. That is a very big problem. We have to avoid it..

Murad

February 23, 2007, 12:33 AM

Someone said Ash is the weakness and you agreed with him? Remember this fellow can win a big match for you. Yes true that he hasn't been consistant and even I was against to include him in the final match of the CT in India.

But as he is in the team lets hope and pray that he shines. It seems that he became an enemy here in BC. But is it fair? Remember if he shines then we might win a match and might go to the second round.

naah re bhaai.. he said.. ashraful is the strenght of bangladesh and also the weaknesss.. thats why i agreed with him....if he clicks he can make it big..but if he doesnt...u know...

kalpurush

February 23, 2007, 12:53 AM

All 14 players is our strength!:-D

insideedge

February 23, 2007, 01:44 AM

Pathan has become a pie chucker and I hope he does not get a chance to figure in any of the matches that India plays. Let him concentrate of shooting for ads ( that is what he is doing at present instead of ironing out his bowling deficiencies).

Browsing through the posts here, I am a bit worried about India going down to Bangladesh in the World cup, and with that getting eliminated in the first round itself. I hope The Indian think tank play their best team against Bangladesh ( that means keeping Pathan, Sehwag and Kumble as far from the XI as is physically possible). If India come off unscathed against Bangladesh then these three losers should be played against Bermuda so that they can come back in "form".

Personally I feel that Indian bowling is India's strength as long as Pathan is kept out of the XI. And hopefully that is what will happen. There are four pacers in the team who are vastly superior to Pathan, and unlike Pathan, they are actually sweating it out in the nets. So as long as India plays with their best team against Bangladesh, I will feel reassured that the Indian flat track bullies ( that is what most Indian batsmen are these days) will be just too good for the Bangladeshi bowlers. And I mean no disrespect when I say that most Bangladeshi bowlers are no better than Pathan, who will hopefully not figure in the Indian XI.

And I must say that I am really looking forward to the India vs Bangladesh match. If India comes through in that match, then I will crank up my expectations. If God forbid, India loses, then I will try to find ways and means to recover from the shock. Of course, I hope that the best team on that day will win. And hopefully, it will be the team that has the better record ( even if it is on paper).:-D

Murad

February 23, 2007, 02:03 AM

Pathan has become a pie chucker and I hope he does not get a chance to figure in any of the matches that India plays. Let him concentrate of shooting for ads ( that is what he is doing at present instead of ironing out his bowling deficiencies).

Browsing through the posts here, I am a bit worried about India going down to Bangladesh in the World cup, and with that getting eliminated in the first round itself. I hope The Indian think tank play their best team against Bangladesh ( that means keeping Pathan, Sehwag and Kumble as far from the XI as is physically possible). If India come off unscathed against Bangladesh then these three losers should be played against Bermuda so that they can come back in "form".

Personally I feel that Indian bowling is India's strength as long as Pathan is kept out of the XI. And hopefully that is what will happen. There are four pacers in the team who are vastly superior to Pathan, and unlike Pathan, they are actually sweating it out in the nets. So as long as India plays with their best team against Bangladesh, I will feel reassured that the Indian flat track bullies ( that is what most Indian batsmen are these days) will be just too good for the Bangladeshi bowlers. And I mean no disrespect when I say that most Bangladeshi bowlers are no better than Pathan, who will hopefully not figure in the Indian XI.

And I must say that I am really looking forward to the India vs Bangladesh match. If India comes through in that match, then I will crank up my expectations. If God forbid, India loses, then I will try to find ways and means to recover from the shock. Of course, I hope that the best team on that day will win. And hopefully, it will be the team that has the better record ( even if it is on paper).:-D

are you from INDIA?? u seem to be a very good fan of INDIA team... if u were bengali and fan of bd team then u wudnt say " If God forbid, India loses, then I will try to find ways and means to recover from the shock."

insideedge

February 23, 2007, 02:12 AM

Yes, I am an India fan from India.

billah

February 23, 2007, 02:28 AM

Babubangla: Priceless !

Never seen such candid, in-depth, point-blank BAM-BAM analysis...LMAO

I pay cable companies good money for such entertainment..

billah

February 23, 2007, 02:34 AM

I think India's main weakness is the wimpy skipper. I also think Srisanth will come out all guns blazing. He may end up embarrassing us, and others. We so need players with his kind of rudeness in our team.

India's fielding will be weak. They have put most of the emphasys on their batting. So, if they bat first, they will most likely score a lot of runs against us. I hope we win the toss and get to bat first. This will have multiple benefits for us.

How the heck did Agarkar manage to be in the Indian team? That is my question.

Tigers_eye

February 23, 2007, 09:55 AM

1st of all, against us may be Sresanth or Manuf will get a chance, but against other teams Pathan will be there for his batting ability.

Those arguing Vass, Malinga and Maharoof will not get anything from the WI wickets, may I ask, who among the fast bowlers will get an advantage? Zaheer, Pathan, Agarkar, Rana, Gul, Watson, Bracken, Anyone and from NZ except Bond, anyone from England except Flintoff, anyone from SA except Pollock, anyone from BD except Mash are all in the same boat.

SL'an bowling attack is as balanced as a team can have. They have swing, they have pace, and they have various spin attack.

Having said all that I want to zinx both SL and Ind against BD.

Tigers_eye

February 23, 2007, 10:40 AM

People,
At least you can do your second best teams. Eng, Aus, WI, SA, Pak.
You know your second best team fairly well, don't you?

New Zealand
Strength:
Middle Order. I fear McCullum and McMillan. They have no understanding of good balls. They hit out balls for six even if the ball is on the middle stump and has a good length.
In team spirit and captaincy I think they are #1 in the world.
The glasses of Vettori may fool everyone and not show the killer instinct this man has.
Fielding. Many have observed that this unit is the best fielding unit NZ have produced so far.
Weakness:
Pace bowling no doubt. After Bond there is a huge let down by the fast bowlers. Franklin, Gillispie, Tuffey all seems to be out of depth.
Oppotunities:
This is the time for them. This team is matured and has played together for a long time. It is now or never. Many of the current team won't be in 2011 team.
Threats:
Injuries. Some of their key players are already out of the WC. If Bond is injured or not 100% fit they may have a dreadful WC because of the high expectations after the series white wash.

bharat

February 23, 2007, 04:25 PM

People,
At least you can do your second best teams. Eng, Aus, WI, SA, Pak.
You know your second best team fairly well, don't you?

New Zealand
Strength:
Middle Order. I fear McCullum and McMillan. They have no understanding of good balls. They hit out balls for six even if the ball is on the middle stump and has a good length.
In team spirit and captaincy I think they are #1 in the world.
The glasses of Vettori may fool everyone and not show the killer instinct this man has.
Weakness:
Pace bowling no doubt. After Bond there is a huge let down by the fast bowlers. Franklin, Gillispie, Tuffey all seems to be out of depth.
Oppotunities:
This is the time for them. This team is matured and has played together for a long time. It is now or never. Many of the current team won't be in 2011 team.
Threats:
Injuries. Some of their key players are already out of the WC. If Bond is injured or not 100% fit they may have a dreadful WC because of the high expectations after the series white wash.

Hey Add Fielding to the list .For my money they are the best fielding side .Not seen a more threatning NZ ever ...May be this is their time ...(I hope not ) .